The Directors Guild of America has finalized the scripted television nominees for their annual award ceremony, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The long-standing craft union will announce the winners come April 10, when Betty Thomas (Dream On, John Tucker Must Die) will accept the 2021 Robert B. Aldrich Service Award for going above and beyond the call of duty as DGA member, Variety reports. The guild separates scripted television programs into four categories– comedy, drama, limited series and children’s programming.
One particular director has received his second DGA nomination for a show that has been the subject of much social media buzz. Matt Shakman (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Psych) has been nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Television Movie or Limited Series for his work on Marvel’s smash Disney Plus hit WandaVision. Less than a week elapsed between the airing of the contentious WandaVision series finale and the announcement of the DGA Awards nominees, making WandaVision the show with which voters would have the least time to familiarize themselves before awards are distributed. The official Marvel Studios Twitter account congratulated Shakman on his nomination several hours after it was made public via The Hollywood Reporter.
Although the critical and online popularity of WandaVision may at first make Shakman seem like the obvious frontrunner, he has fierce competition in the TV Movie and Limited Series directorial race, including Danish director Susanne Bier (The Night Manager, Open Hearts), whose work on HBO’s The Undoing transplanted the essence of Nordic noir to New York City high society, as well as the late Lynn Shelton (Glow, Sword of Trust), who is nominated for her work helming the series finale of the Hulu drama Little Fires Everywhere.
Aside from Bier’s nomination for The Undoing, HBO has been recognized in a couple of other scripted television categories. However, their total absence from the serial drama category is especially notable, considering their victory in the category last year with the Watchmen pilot directed by Nicole Kassell (The Killing, A Little Bit of Heaven). In fact, in 2020, HBO did sweep of every scripted television category with additional wins for Barry, Chernobyl and Song of Parkland, as reported by Variety.
The DGA intends to announce nominees in all feature film categories on March 9. In the meantime, check out the full list of scripted television nominees below:
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Dramatic Series
Julie Anne Robinson, Bridgerton S01E01: “Diamond of the First Water” [Netflix]
Jason Bateman, Ozark S03E01: “Wartime” [Netflix]
Jon Favreau, The Mandalorian S02E01: “Chapter 9: The Marshal” [Disney Plus]
Lesli Linka Glatter, Homeland S08E12: “Prisoners of War” [Showtime]
Vince Gilligan, Better Call Saul S05E08: “Bagman” [AMC]
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Comedy Series
Zach Braff, Ted Lasso S01E02: “Biscuits” [Apple TV Plus]
M.J. Delaney, Ted Lasso S01E10: “The Hope that Kills You” [Apple TV Plus]
Erin O’Malley, Curb Your Enthusiasm S10E06: ‘The Surprise Party” [HBO]
Jeff Schaffer, Curb Your Enthusiasm S10E10: “The Spite Store” [HBO]
Susanna Fogel, The Flight Attendant S01E01: “In Case of Emergency” [HBO Max]
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Television Movie or Limited Series
Matt Shakman, WandaVision [Disney Plus]
Thomas Kail, Hamilton [Disney Plus]
Susanne Bier, The Undoing [HBO]
Lynn Shelton, Little Fires Everywhere E08: “Find a Way” [Hulu]
Scott Frank, The Queen’s Gambit [Netflix]
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs
Kabir Akhtar, High School Musical: The Musical – The Series S01E09: “Opening Night” [Disney Plus]
Larissa Bills, On Pointe S01E06: “Showtime!” [Disney Plus]
Amy Schatz, We Are the Dream: The Kids of the Oakland MLK Oratorical Fest [HBO]
Dean Israelite, The Astronauts S01E01: “Countdown” [Nickelodeon]
Richie Keen, The Healing Powers of Dude S01E01: “Second Step: Homeroom” [Netflix]
The list of DGA Awards contenders in these four categories is comprised of eleven male directors and nine female directors. This lineup features one Person of Color, that being Kabir Akhtar (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Never Have I Ever). No Black Americans have been nominated and exactly zero Women of Color are up for awards in any of these categories.